Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Verses 11-13
Verse 11 is my "life verse." I ran across that verse over 20 years ago and chose it as the verse to guide my life. The verse that follows is what I will do for the rest of my life. No matter what sin I allow myself to fall into, no matter how bad or good things get, I will always give thanks to and glorify the name of the Lord. Why? Because of verse 13. He has delivered my soul from the grave and his love, his steadfast love toward me is never-ending.
Hallelujah!
Matthew 21:33-46 The Parable of the Tenants
Jesus tells a parable about a man who leases out his vineyard to some tenants and leaves the country for a while. When harvest time came, the man sent servants to get the fruit, and the tenants killed the servant. They killed other servants that he sent, as well. He finally sends his son, thinking that they will respect him, but they kill the son, too, thinking that this will end things and they will get the inheritance.
The key verse in the passage is verse 42, Have you never read in the Scriptures: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes"?
One interesting thing in the commentary is that this passage does not necessarily state that the kingdom has been taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles. The "tenants" in this passage are simply those who have been put in charge of the "vineyard," which is the old covenant community. The wicked tenants are, indeed ethnic Jews, but there are other ethnic Jews that are part of the vineyard, and this passage never states that the vineyard is uprooted.
The rejected Son is the "cornerstone" that joins two walls together. Jesus joins the old and new covenants together, declaring himself to be the Lord over all earthly kingdoms. He will crush all opposition to the kingdom of God.
There is a warning here, as well. The original tenants did not produce fruit (again, here is another reference to hypocrisy). Those who are truly in Christ will produce fruit. Any who are not, are not true heirs, and will be removed from the picture. But "fruit" does not only consist of soul-winning. That is not the only kind of fruit that a believer can produce, so don't let anyone convince you that if you aren't leading lots of people to Christ, you are ineffective. "Fruit" also consists of service, progress in sanctification, discipleship, and other similar things.
Luke 24:1-12
Luke writes of the morning when "the women" were going to the tomb of Jesus to finish the work of burying Jesus. They were carrying various burial spices. But when they got there the stone had been rolled away, and the tomb was empty! As they pondered what they were seeing, two angels suddenly appeared and asked them, "Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?" As they remembered Jesus's words, they ran to tell the disciples, who were hesitant to believe them. Peter, though, ran to the tomb to see for himself. But even as he walked away, he was puzzled about what was happening.
I'm not sure which person in this passage I most identify with. I know that I frequently identify with Peter. And I probably would have done just what he did. Run to the scene, impulsively. I am an impulsive person. I would have been very excited. However, my nature would have been to immediately believe that he was resurrected. I'm gullible that way. Not that believing in Jesus is being gullible, I'm not saying that at all. It's just that I am quick to believe that what I am seeing is what I had hoped would happen. I don't know how else to explain that.
If I were in Peter's place, I would have done the same thing he did. I would have jumped up and run. There would have been all kinds of thoughts running through my head, and the whole thing would have probably been just a blur. I might even trip and fall a few times in my haste.
As I picture the risen Christ approaching me later that day, I run to him, with joy in my heart. I want to embrace him. I am so happy that he is alive.
Are we looking for the Living One in a cemetery? I hope not. He's alive! Today, he's still alive! He sits at the right hand of God and he intercedes for us. Let us live with those truths embraced in our hearts and minds.
Grace and peace, friends!